Some Amazing Fish Part 2
Let’s consider a few more of the strange fish to be found in various parts of the world.
Off the Mexican coast a bright-red scorpionfish makes its home. It’s scary to have one of these approach you under water, as its big ugly mouth appears to grin at you and its black bulging eyes look you over. But it is quite harmless. Its red skin, formed by what appears to be loose patches ready to fall off, is actually on good and tight.
The principal enemy of the 10-inch puffer is a shark, but they must sneak up on the puffer or they are faced with a big problem. When a puffer thinks a shark is after it, it suddenly changes its body into a large ball. The shark doesn’t like the looks of this and leaves in a hurry. But all the puffer has done is swallow water (or, if near the surface, big gulps of air), which makes it look like a balloon. Then it will turn over on its back and float to the surface like a piece of driftwood.
The flying fish of the Sargasso Sea lay eggs looking exactly like the seaweed plants among which they live. After hatching, these look more than ever like a part of these odd plants. Even close up it is almost impossible to tell which is plant and which is fish.
The eight-inch anableps of tropical America, sometimes called the four-eyed fish, adapt to both fresh and salt water. These swim along the surface, the top part of their bulging eyes on top of their heads see what is floating or moving at the surface, while the lower part at the same time watches for things below. Isn’t it amazing how the anableps can decide what to do when there is something of interest both above and below the surface?
Another Amazon River fish uses the flat teeth it has been provided with to crack hard nuts, spitting out the shell pieces. It gets good nourishment from these nuts and also from seeds and fruits.
The European bitterling, when ready to lay eggs, hunts for a mussel shellfish. Finding one, she drops a tube from her body and inserts it into the flesh so gently that the mussel doesn’t seem to know anything is happening. The three or four dozen eggs deposited stay inside about a month, at which time they hatch and swim away — the mussel seems none the worse for the experience.
There are many creatures scarcely known to mankind, but all are known to the Creator, who had His purpose in placing them in the waters of the earth. But the important thing for us to know is the love of the Lord Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and who invites us to come to Him as helpless sinners, accepting His invitation to receive Him into our hearts as Lord and Saviour. Have you done this? It is the only way to heaven.
ML 03/04/1990